“I spread out my map under a tree and made up my mind to go through Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia to Florida, thence to Cuba, thence to some part of South America; but it will be only a hasty walk…

I wandered away on a glorious botanical and geological excursion, which has lasted nearly fifty years and is not yet completed, always happy and free, poor and rich, without thought of a diploma or of making a name, urged on and on through endless, inspiring Godful beauty.John Muir — The Story of My Boyhood and Youth (1913),

Like John Muir, I had a childhood dream, but mine was to live in Argentina’s pastoral Pampas region, painted so lovely in my fifth-grade geography book. I wanted to raise quarter horses and ride the pampas like those gaucho cowboys!

Those Mississippi-childhood dreams faded, though every so often I was wistful to live in the Neotropics, home to exotic botanical specimens I thirsted to see in person, where locals conveniently used large tropical leaves for impromptu umbrellas and where heliconias soared to the moon.

The road less traveled eventually delivered me to Central America and then Ecuador, places where the temperatures never dipped below freezing – unless I desired to visit the peaks of Chimborazo, Cotopaxi or other high-altitude landmarks that dot South America’s Andean spine.

There are times when I enjoy an eye-to-eye inspection of those exotic plants, and by capturing their likeness with pencil or water media, I discover minute details that otherwise might be missed. I always walk away with deeper respect for the plant and its support cast of companions.

Brugmansia leaf detail – acrylic

Detail: Brugmansia y Ginger – Acrylic

Wildflowers facing north! (Acrylic)

While painting this Thunbergia study, I noticed monarch caterpillars nibbling the leaves of a nearby milkweed!

There are times when I toss the scientific seriousness aside and allow the personality of the subject to emerge. These always bring great mischievous joy, as if freeing a personality that was trapped by a long-ago wicked spell. Most people can easily spot the human spirit in Ecuador’s Ceibo trees Ceiba trichistandra.

Presently I’m in the tropical dry forest, where for half a year the climate is humid with bi-polar rainfall, depending on moods of the nearby Pacific waters. The rainy season weans into the dry season, and many trees go into a dormant stage.

It is in this section of Ecuador’s coast where the gigantic Ceibo trees join forces with the much-smaller Palo Santo. These two trees leave lasting imprints on those who bond with the flora and fauna of the area.

‘What is that unique sweet smell?’ people might ask. Many times it’s the subtle aroma of a just-bruised branch of Palo Santo. The dried ‘holy’ wood is burned to repel mosquitoes as well as to clean a room of heavy energies or bad spirits.

Palo Santo tree

Recently my friend Luchi and I began work on a painting of a Palo Santo tree, which grows along Ecuador’s Pacific coast. He presented some photos he hoped to work with, and we inspected two trees growing in the hostal gardens. I began the painting as he watched, and then he joined the painting session! After a few hours of starts and stops, of inspecting the trees and returning, we reached a stopping point. The painting remains in limbo, as Luchi * was unsure about working on this study without my help, and I realized that I knew little about the trees, aside from the scent that imprints on any one who experiences it.

* No photo of Luchi painting; the computer is not reading the camera chip at this moment!

A few days later I retrieved a scrap of canvas, set up near one of the trees, and began a serious study. The colors of the bark changed with the ever-changing light. When wet it was much darker. At times it appeared green and other times gray or even reddish.

I have learned so much – including there are few insects on this tree! So far I’ve only witnessed tiny black ants being granted entrance to the Palo Santo’s sacred space! Many birds perch in its branches, though this study you’re about to see below – so far doesn’t invite a co-star. Perhaps the house wren’s petite presence might find its way into the scene? Pondering the various birds sparked my interest in featuring a Motmot that recently stopped by to say hello! The Motmot deserves a large canvas of its own!

The next in the series might be this Whooping Motmot .

With the canvas taped to a flat surface, I sat very still and studied the tree for five or so minutes, mixed basic pigments, and without any pencil guidelines, took a small roller about three inches wide and rolled clear water along the basic areas for the trunk and primary limbs.

Luchi’s nephew Jesus quietly watched as the form of the tree magically took shape. After the water, I brushed in a medium wash of white house paint – yes, I use house paint, much superior to hobby tempera-like paints sold in the tiendas! While the white paint was still very wet, I washed in light brownish-yellow colors, then followed with the darker ones. True to watercolor’s personality, the pigments swirled and swam, but never jumped out of bounds into dry areas. Poking and pushing the colors, and clarifying the outer lines of the limbs, I did ‘just enough’ to keep the colors from being overworked and then took a break. I was surprised to see a much-larger audience! Luchi, his brother Fernando and nephew Jesus were all quietly watching and at times taking photos!

The slideshow illustrates that day’s work via the first image, and the rest as painted over the next few days. At night, I took samples of leaves inside, and I also worked from photos.

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Palo Santo – Bursera graveolens – From Wilkipedia: ” The tree belongs to the same family (Burseraceae) as frankincense and myrrh. It is widely used in folk medicine for stomach ache, as sudorific, and as liniment for rheumatism.[1] Aged heartwood is rich in terpenes such as limonene and α-terpineol.

There will be a few tweaks to foliage, and we’re still trying to discover if an insect would even land on this tree! Does anyone have first-hand information?

Delightful!! If there are no insects on the trees I wonder why the birds ever land on them? Usually the birds are after the insects for a snack. Many thanks for the talk-through. It was most interesting and enlightening.

Seeing and looking are two different things especially when artistically inclined. The forest as home for many species will bring out the strange and unusual nature of human and animal alike.
Very distinctive artwork and story. Stands apart from the ordinary

Yes, you are so right about seeing and looking. Mother Nature provides and endless supply of inspiration for drawing and painting. Though most anyone can see the beauty, one doesn’t really grasp its essence until one has studied it.

Oh yes, there is so much beauty all around us, if we’ll just pause to admire! Guyana was never top of my list of places along the road-less traveled, but I suspect the natural world there is equally as beautiful… Perhaps one day……

I like the way you introduced this post Lisa. What a good subject – that bark invites study, doesn’t it? Yesterday we walked among giant old growth trees near here, admiring their strength and the tiny life that grew on and all around them – it was a landscape of huge and tiny, and such gorgeous Spring growth right now…and one tree that caught my eye towards the end had similar patterns on its bark, from lichens – so pretty. I think your work shows that science and art are not opposed, but complementary.
p.s. – The Elephant tree in my recent Arizona post belongs to the same family – a peculiar one, yes?

Thank you! Your own multi-talented gifts are pretty special as well! I am grateful for my gifts and sometimes wonder what it would be like to have few interests or hobbies and be ‘bored.’ bored? is that a word in your vocabulary? probably not!

What does bored mean? 😁 I couldn’t wait to give up work so I could do all the things I never had time for! We are so lucky to be time millionaires – and I still have difficulty fitting everything in! 😊🙃

My god, Lisa, your work rates right up there with Audubon, and Franz & Ferdinand Bauer. I hope you don’t have to die before the credibility of your finely tuned eye and well-trained hands is recognized for the treasure to humanity (and biology) that it is.

I’v not heard it calld the ‘tourist tree’ but the locals in Costa Rica called it ‘Indio
Desnudo’ there and also in Belize. It makes a really pretty living fence, and after years of being pruned back, the trees have really strange scars that give each tree unique character. The pruned branches are planted, so at least the pruning isn’t wasteful.

Its bark was prized for medicinal purposes.. I think that one often-used treatment was for skin problems — ja, perhaps sunburn as well?

So lovely Lisa! I would love to live somewhere with such a lovely climate and so much nature! The older I get I crave to be warmer. It will be awhile but hopefully someday we can spend at least part of the year south of the border. How many years have you been an expat for? I can’t remember if I ever asked. Beautiful artwork as always. Adore Muir!

Love your conversations Lisa and how your trees evolve their personalities. Can just imagine the antler discussion on “Mr Muir”. Enjoy the mythology around trees; lived in Trinidad for a while and there the mystical Silk Cottonwood was the ‘voodoo’ tree. All weird and wonderful stories. On my recent travels i came across the fabulous botanical artworks of that intrepid Victorian artist, Marianne North who travelled all over the world in the 1800’s. She bequeathed the extraordinary collection to Kew Gardens outside London. Wrote a book “Recollections” – her adventures and love of the natural world are quite thrilling. A female Muir equivalent!

The Voodoo Tree sounds like a wonderful icon, and Cottonwoods are such grand and powerful trees. Thank you so much for the information about Marianne North and her book. How admirable that she left a legacy to such an appropriate ‘guardian’ of her work. I look forward to getting a glimpse into her world.

The Thunbergia reminds me of a large fern house we used to have in our garden when we lived in the hills. It had a roof made up of these vines trained over a frame and in season the inside was once dense curtain of yellow and red blooms. “Godful’ about describes how it looked 🙂

Thanks for both comments, and yes, “Godful beauty” is a lovely description to use for our planet. The Thunbergia used as a dense curtain is for sure one of the best ways to appreciate its beauty… I suspect that it was stunning… or as you better described, ‘Godful.’

Thank you! It was an easy ‘child’ to raise! Am working now on its surrogate elder the Ceibo tree, and it’s going equally well. I hope that the weekend is going well over there, no more horrid violence for a very long time.

Amazing, and I am learning also technique from you Lisa.. I sat in the silence merging with the tree .. What a special tree this is.. a natural healer and repellent of unwanted energies and insects.. Magical in both form, and interpretation, ❤

I love your post Lisa. I’m in the same boat, I don’t receive your posts either. If I remember, I go to your site, if I’m busy I miss it. Following you again is the only answer. Stay well, keep painting, & traveling. K